Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

That is fine. I would like to pose some questions myself. I have been knocking on doors for 20 years with an electoral register in my hands. Candidates engage with people and they take note of whether a person is likely to support them. They do that for their own benefit. This has moved into a much greater sphere with a much more complex collection of data. It puts the wealthier parties at a much greater advantage in terms of the amount of money and the resources they can invest. The smaller parties and Independents just do not have that access. It is influencing politics in a way. It has always been the way that the more money you have, the more influence you have. We know that to be true across society, but in politics and democracy, that it is a very unfair direction in which we appear to be going. My question is to the representatives of the three smaller parties in terms of representation, namely, Ms McMahon, Mr. Sheehan and Ms Sparks. Do they feel at a disadvantage when trying to compete with the wealthier parties and do they think the playing field is level for them? I ask the witnesses to respond in reverse order, starting with Ms Sparks.